A British Point of View: A Sign Of The Times…

A quick look at RAW and the build up to this years granddaddy of them all!

I couldn’t help but think that RAW was very disappointing this week. It didn’t do anything to create anymore intrigue heading into Wrestlemania, it just simply replicated the previous show.

King got beat up by Michael Cole. Triple H buried another wrestler by putting them through the announce table. Michael Cole said what we were all thinking by interrupting the Diva’s match again and Sheamus got another easy win to set up his rematch at Wrestlemania. Miz then had the wonderful idea of turning the symbol upside down to change the look of the WWE title, upon which, John Cena was “magically” in the arena and attacked Miz and Riley in a very weak ending to a mediocre show.

WWE are putting its eggs in one basket with next week’s RAW by having Undertaker, Triple H and The Rock all under the same roof.

I can’t help but feel that the WWE has forgotten how to lead into PPV’s with a gap of about 6 weeks. So many times WWE has 2 or 3 shows to quickly build a PPV and now they have had double the time and have seemingly run out of ideas. Sure it will seem different next week because we should have a solid RAW but couldn’t they have at least put on a solid wrestling night this past week because next week 75% of the show will be done with a microphone rather than some wrestling boots.

Smackdown on the other hand seems to have kept better momentum with a solid steel cage match between Del Rio and Christian this past week.

I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll mention it again, Wrestlemania doesn’t look very appealing at the minute for the big price tag it is waving. This is the first Wrestlemania I’ll be watching from my TV set since 2005 and to be honest, I’m not as disappointed as I thought I would be that I won’t be there in person. Sure I’m going to miss seeing The Rock but he isn’t even on the card. The one thing I really feel upset I won’t get chance to see in person is Shawn Michaels going into the Hall of Fame… That and the Kevin Nash WM27 Atlanta Party (Gives the old Mick Foley plug and thumbs up!)

I’m sure I’ll enjoy Wrestlemania just as much as ever when it’s actually on. It has the possibility of being a solid wrestling PPV, which would be a heavy contradiction if I said I wasn’t looking forward to the efforts that the talent will put on display. I cannot help but feel the main issue with the card is the lack of originality. None of the matches have a special feel about it apart from Triple H and Undertaker, even then we’ve seen it 10 years ago and no matter what they do it will not compare with the previous efforts from Shawn Michaels, yes I know I’m biased because I’m a massive Shawn Michaels fan.

Then we have the celebrity gimmick match. Snooki? Who the hell is Snooki!?

Wrestlemania in recent years has attracted celebrities such as Donald Trump, Mickey Rourke, Nicole Scherzinger, Kid Rock, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. I’d prefer to have no celebrities like last year at Wrestlemania rather than throwing in someone who is predominated known only in the US. To bolster this match they thrown in as many solid wrestlers as possible to ensure the match is ‘actually’ a match. They have ruined an opportunity to use some great talent with Trish Stratus, Michelle McCool, John Morrison and Dolph Ziggler, who would have been far better off having sinlges matches in my eyes.

Seeing as WWE have scrapped the Money in the Bank match this year couldn’t they have kept a ladder match in there with possibly Kofi Kingston defending his Intercontinental Championship against people like Drew McIntyre, Christian, Justin Gabriel, Jack Swagger, Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson? I’d rather see that than some mixed tag team match where the finish is already obvious.

My rant over, I hope that Wrestlemania is solid and if you agree or disagree with my thoughts leading into this years show then please feel free to let me know at beansontoastuk@msn.com or get in touch with me on Twitter @BeansOnToastUK.